Tyler Clary Interview

What It Means To Be A Full-Time Athlete

We often interview people who've had great success in business, entertainment, fashion and sports. We like to know about their lives, their interests, what inspires them. In some cases, their examples serve as cautionary tales (see: Lenny Dykstra). In most others, we learn something from them that may help us better achieve in our own lives. With the London Olympics in progress, we decided to connect with Olympians past, present and future to see what we could learn from the most elite athletes on the planet. They told us about how they train, manage mental and physical stress, and what it's like to be a career athlete. What we found is that a strong work ethic and a good attitude go a long way.

Where do things stand right now with the Olympics?Tyler Clary (TC): The Olympic trials start on the 25th of this month. We leave on the 22nd. My best shot of making the team is the first day, so I should know the 25th. I’m pretty confident going into trials, and I think I’ll make the team. [Tyler Clary qualified for the 200-meter butterfly and the 200-meter backstroke.]

I understand you get a lot of massages.TC: People always go, “It must be such a tough life getting massages like that.” But when your body is as beat up as mine gets, the massages aren’t exactly pleasant. They’re pretty painful.

Let’s talk about that. What’s your workout regimen like right now?TC: I’m in the water 10 times a week for two hours apiece. During the regular season I lift weights twice a week for a total of three hours. I also do dryland exercises that add up to another hour. So it’s basically 24 hours of working out a week. I’m also pretty active outside of training. I’m constantly working out, basically. Anytime I’m not, I’m resting. People don’t realize how valuable resting [is] when you’re working as hard as we do.

How much rest do you need?TC: I try to get at least eight hours a night, and then I usually have an hour or two nap during the day. Your body just needs that much. When your body is burning that amount of calories, you need at least that much to cope with what’s going on. And then the massages are pretty situational. Generally, you come in and have the therapist work on any target areas, flush out built-up scar tissue, loosen up any muscles that might be tight, make sure your body is working efficiently.

Tell me about the decision to go from being a college athlete to being a professional. What a risk.TC: There are lots of risks and challenges. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it, especially when it comes to swimming. When I was making my decision, it wasn’t, “Am I going professional?” It was, “Do I go back to college and possibly jeopardize my goal of making the Olympic team, or do I choose to buckle down and focus on world-level competition?” That’s what it boiled down to. Thankfully, I have the skill set and had enough success that particular summer to secure a contract with Speedo and set myself up in a pretty prime position to give myself a shot at making the team.

Did you seek them out or did they come knocking on your door?TC: The swimming community is small. It’s almost like living in a small town — everybody knows about everybody. It was pretty well known that I had left Michigan that summer to go train out in California with my old coach. So the swim companies sort of caught on to that, and I was approached by Speedo and they expressed interest in working with me. That’s when I really had to sit down and think to myself, “Do I go back to college and maybe give myself a shot at the Olympics, or can I stay here and devote all my time and energy to it?” The big question was: "What if I go back to college and I don’t make the Olympic team? Will I regret that?" And that was not a question I wanted in my mind, so I decided to throw myself toward making the team. Right now, I’m happy with my decision I made.